Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



l. RIDER.

Breach-Loading Fire-Arms.

Patented Juy 29,1873.

Wimm- AMPHoraumasmPH/c co. xwoman/vele mmm) UNITED STATES PATENT QEEIOEJOSEPH EIDER, OE NEWARK, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADlNG FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 141,383, dated July 29,1873; application filed March 15, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OsEPH RIDER, of Newark, in the county of Lickingand State of Ohio, ha-ve invented certain Improvements in Breech-LoadingGuns, of which the following is a specitcation:

My invention consists in various improvements upon the gun patented tome February ll, 1868, as hereinaiter more fully described.

Figure l isA a side elevation of the breech mechanisnnwith one sideofthe frame removed for the purpose of showing its construction. Fig. 2is a perspective view ofthe guard-strap detached; Fig. 3, a perspectiveview of the extractor-spring; Fig. 4, perspective views of the triggerand ily With the end of the mainspring for operating them Fig; 5, afront-face view of the breech-block and Fig. 6, a view oi' thespring-button for holling the breech and hammer pins in place.

The general form and construction of my improved arm are the same asdescribed in my patent above mentioned, it having a frame, B, swinging'breech-piece D, and a hammer, E, with a locking-shoulder, F, the latterso arranged that the hammer shall swing O11 two different centers duringits different movements, all as therein fully set forth.

My iirst improvement consists in constructing the extractor in the fprmof a plate, which fits into a suitable recess formed in the side of thebreech-block l), as shown in Figs. l and 5, it being formed with acircular hole, which iits over an eccentric hub, d, on the side ot' theblock, and with a V- shaped point, u, which iits in a corresponding slotout in the side ot' the barrel, as shown in Fig. l. Ituis also providedwith a shoulder, o, on its rear edge, against which a shoulder, u, onthe block strikes when opened, and an inclined shoulder, 1, on its loweredge, upon which a spring, j, operates to impart to it an acceleratedmovement when the breech has been opened a certain distance, and thusthrow the shell entirely out of lits chamber. This spring j, as shown inFigs. 1 and 3, is constructed with a semicircular projection on itsunder side, near its rear end, which tits into a corresponding recessformed for it in the side of the guardstrap, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,the end ofthe spring fitting in a slot cut for it in the guardstrap, asshown, it being thus held rmly in place and prevented from movingwithout screw or pin. The guard-strap C is made as shown in Fig. 2, andis so arranged that it can be detached from the frame by removing twoscrews, without dismounting the breech-block or hammer. At its front endI form a lug, e, into which the end ofthe ramrod is screwed;

and just in rear Ot' that I make another lug, b,

upon which the firing-pin retracting-lever strikes when the breech isopened. Still another, but smaller, lug, y, is located on this strap inrear ot' the lug b, in such a position that the catch c will rest uponit when the latter is detached from the locking-dog F, and be held inthe proper position to insure the point of the trigger engaging in itwhen the breech is closed, their relative positions being shown in Fig.l. 'lhe guard-strap U is further provided with two shoulders, p, betweenwhich is pivoted, on the same pin, the triggerfand a ily, h, the form ofthese being shown in Fig. 4. The trigger, as there shown, is recessed onits side, so as to permit the iiy to be pivoted by its side and have amovement independent of the latter, the ily being also cut away on oneside, so that the two, at the point where pivoted, shall only be equalto the thickness ot' either at other points. The fly has its rearportion formed with a iiat tace, i, upon which the spring l is made torest in such a manner as to bear upon it, at one time, in rear oi' itspivot, to throw its front end up and cause it to engage in a notch inthe tumbler, as shown in Fig. 1, and at another time to press on itinfront of its pivot, so as to throw its front end down `and disengageit from the tumbler.

The mainspring G is made double, or bent different purposes-operatingthe hammer E,

the locking-dog F, the catch c, the trigger f, and the ily h, the threeformer all being pivoted together. The catch a is provided on its underAside With a notch, w, as shown in Fig. 1, into which the point of thetrigger enters at certain times, and which serves as a safety-notch, and

2 massa prevents the gun from being discharged whenthus arranged. Thiscatch ais pivoted to thetumbler by a circular joint, as shown in Fig. l.The trigger f, as shown in Fig. 4, is provided with two points, hand s,lthe former engaging in the safety-notch of catch a, and the latter inthe full-cock notch n of the tumbler, when the gun is to be tired. Thebutton for holding the pins in the frame, instead ot' being made of arigid piece, as in my patent of February 11, 1858, is made of a iiexibleor spring piece, with a screw attached rigidly thereto, as representedin Fig. 6, so that, in order to release the pins, it is only necessaryto spring the ends ot' the button w oft' of the pins enough to enable itto be turned around, thus avoiding the necessity' of using ascrewdriver. 1

The operation of the mechanism when thus constructed and properly puttogether is as follows: Supposing the breech to be closed and the hammerdown, the latter is iirst drawn back, during which operation the catch twill engage with the lower end of the locking-dog F, and the latter willthereby be drawn from under the breech-block, leaving the latter free tobe opened. As the latter is swung back, the eccentric d will force thepoint u ot' the extractor np the inclined slot, and cause it to act as awedge and vforce out the cartridge -shell with great power. As thebreech-block continues its movement, its shoulder n strikes on theshoulder o of t-he extractor, and causes the latter to rotate with ituntil the shoulder r is carried past the point ot the spring j, when thelatter, acting on its inclined face, imparts a sudden motion to theextractor, which is thus made to throw the shell entirely out ot' thechamber, and just as this occurs the rear shoulder ofthe breech-blockstrikes upon the front end of catch a and disengages it from thelocking-dog F, the tiring-pin retractor-lever at the same time striking'against the lug b on the guard-strap, and thereby drawing back thetiring-pin. A cartridge beinginserted, the breech is then closed, whenthe dog F springs in under or behind it and locks it fast.

It will be observed that when the hammer is drawn back, as in Fig. l,the y It engages in the full-cock notch fv, and so remains until thecatch a is released from dog F, and the latter swings in behind thebreech-block, this movement causing the hammer to move with the dogaround the pivot ot the latter, thereby causing the hammer to rise,carrying the point y of the tly h upward with it, when its changedposition causes the spring t to act on the front part ofthe face i, orcausing its shoulder z to abut against the end of the spring, which, assoon as the point of the ily is released from the notch e by pulling thehammer back, causes the iiy to drop down out of the way; the hammerbeing then either drawn back to a full-cock, when the point s engagesthe notch t, and the arm is ready to tire, or it can be let down, sothat the point k will engage in the safety-notch x, in which positionthe gun cannot be fired until it is again set at full-cock.

It will thus be seen that, although there are numerous and complicatedmovements, the parts are few in number, simple of construction, and verystrong.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. The extractor u,in combination with th eccentric d, constructed and arranged to operatesubstantially as described.

2. In combination with the pivoted catch a., the projection y on theguard-strap, when arranged to operate as set forth.

3. The liy h, constructed and arranged to operate as described, wherebyit holds the hammer while the arm is being loaded, and is disengagedtherefrom when the hammer is set at full-cock.

4. The bent spring G, having its lower end split to form twosprings ot'different lengths, and arranged as described, whereby it serves tooperate the hammer with its locking-dog and catch, and also the triggerand liy, as set forth.

5. The combination of the breech-block D, provided with the shoulder nand eccentric d, the extractor provided with the shoulder o,

incline t', and wedge-shaped point u, workin g1

